While some Christians might find it difficult to believe, a christianity is not a pro-war faith. In fact, Christians ought to be at the forefront of advocating for peace, rather than being in the position of advocating some war abroad or justifying the murdering of others with whom we have disagreements. Some Christians even go so far as to advocate or justify torture, ironic because our faith is built upon the nonviolent resistance of Jesus, who himself was tortured to the worst degree.
Libertarians are not always antiwar, but the principles of libertarianism, as we saw in part one, were that of nonaggression and peaceful behavior. By its very nature, libertarians believe that war is immoral, with the exception of self defense. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a war in American history that could justifiably fall under that category (unless you consider the Confederate States fighting in self-defense).
Contrast this belief that war is wrong to that of progressives and conservatives who believe that war is a legitimate when it suits a political agenda such as filling the coffers of your rich buddies, or perhaps to justify increasing government spending to “stimulate” an economy. Libertarians are the most consistent when they say war is wrong. Secular libertarian websites such as AntiWar.com are calling out why the wars the United States government is carrying out is immoral and wrong. This is fundamentally an issue of justice, something Christians ought to be committed to.
Yes, I realize that there are “just war” theories, and perhaps there is merit to those arguments. Maybe they are theologically correct. But ask yourself the question (as Paul Green does), “How many innocent people would you be willing to kill – purely to defend yourself?” Because even if you advocate for a just war, there are always innocent victims. And if you think reading the Old Testament gets you off the hook being “pro-war,” try reading this article by Paul Green.
So while many Christians justify war for this reason or that, this coinciding principle of peace stands at the heart of every libertarian, and ought to be an easy embrace for any follower of Christ.
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